# Boxes with no Date Code?!?!



## s1n3 n0m1n3 (Jun 20, 2019)

Anyone here ever get a box with no date code, yet all the other details line up...including the Habanos S.A. UPC checker? The source is well known and highly reputable.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

Mmm... no.


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## s1n3 n0m1n3 (Jun 20, 2019)

I started buying CC boxes back in ‘98 and after all this time.....this is a first for me. I was just hoping someone else had seen this before, so I can give my OCD a rest.


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## jmt8706 (Jul 19, 2019)

s1n3 n0m1n3 said:


> I started buying CC boxes back in '98 and after all this time.....this is a first for me. I was just hoping someone else had seen this before, so I can give my OCD a rest.


Maybe someone just got lazy. If all the other info lines up, I wouldn't worry about it.


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## s1n3 n0m1n3 (Jun 20, 2019)

jmt8706 said:


> Maybe someone just got lazy. If all the other info lines up, I wouldn't worry about it.


Ahhhh, yes. The sane and rational approach. I hear that normal people use this approach often. Us OCD folks on the other hand; fret, pace, pull out hair, find something to rearrange, and all the while ponder why this damned world isn't perfect. Lol


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

curmudgeonista said:


> Mmm... no.


I must much to your dismay i would imagine.
Echo Jacks response.
_NO!_


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## poppajon75 (Apr 10, 2016)

Only time I've not seen box codes is on the individual tins when buying a 5x5 deal. I've got a couple tins of HUHC from '08 that aren't marked, though I imagine the original packaging containing the lot would have had the codes.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Here are a box of fakes i stumbled upon some time back.
You will notice no date code.
Lots of other stickers though.
My advice to you, since you have said he is a reputable vendor.
Send them back its really just that simple.
Reputable vendors not only guarantee delivery.
They also guarantee your complete satisfaction.
Good Luck. :vs_cool:


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Here are a box of fakes i stumbled upon some time back.
> You will notice no date code.
> Lots of other stickers though.
> My advice to you, since you have said he is a reputable vendor.
> ...


Man those got around! Excellent example Tony. You can even still find them on some fake vendor sites today. But then, that's a dead giveaway that they're selling fakes. And "fakes" is the right word; they don't even rate being called "counterfeits".

Interestingly, if those were real they would be an example of an instance where there likely wouldn't be a date code on the wooden box because it would have been stamped on the cardboard outer box instead (I've seen it said that they sometimes stamp both, but I've never seen it myself). And that's where all the stickers and seals would be too, on the outer packaging not the wooden inner! There are also some regular production items where the wooden box is packaged in an outer cardboard box with the date stamp, stickers, and seals on it, and any real vendor will ship them that way.

And that's a good lead-in to telling folks how to know if the vendor site they stumbled across is selling fakes. Packaging matters, and counterfeiters are notorious for getting it wrong. Another tip-off is items that have long-since been discontinued. The first thing I look for are Partagas Coronas. Seems nearly every fake vendor lists them as though they're still in current production even though they were discontinued in 2006. Not that I was going to buy anything from some random site anyway, but I do kinda' enjoy shaking my head and laughing at how transparent they are letting you know their cigars are all fakes!


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

poppajon75 said:


> Only time I've not seen box codes is on the individual tins when buying a 5x5 deal. I've got a couple tins of HUHC from '08 that aren't marked, though I imagine the original packaging containing the lot would have had the codes.


Yep, date code would be under the flap of the outer sleeve containing all five tins. Same goes for cardboard packs. One catch, though. HUHC's weren't launched until 2011, and the 5x5 tins didn't come out until 2012.

Another example of unusual date placement is with Vegueros tins of 16. The date stamp is on the bottom of the bundle inside the tin. This also applies to JLP's and Quinteros that come as a bundle inside a chipboard box.


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## Rondo (Sep 9, 2015)

A first for me.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

curmudgeonista said:


> Yep, date code would be under the flap of the outer sleeve containing all five tins. Same goes for cardboard packs. One catch, though. HUHC's weren't launched until 2011, and the 5x5 tins didn't come out until 2012.
> 
> Another example of unusual date placement is with Vegueros tins of 16. The date stamp is on the bottom of the bundle inside the tin. This also applies to JLP's and Quinteros that come as a bundle inside a chipboard box.


Absolutely right.
Very few people would notice that.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

curmudgeonista said:


> Man those got around! Excellent example Tony. You can even still find them on some fake vendor sites today. But then, that's a dead giveaway that they're selling fakes. And "fakes" is the right word; they don't even rate being called "counterfeits".
> 
> Interestingly, if those were real they would be an example of an instance where there likely wouldn't be a date code on the wooden box because it would have been stamped on the cardboard outer box instead (I've seen it said that they sometimes stamp both, but I've never seen it myself). And that's where all the stickers and seals would be too, on the outer packaging not the wooden inner! There are also some regular production items where the wooden box is packaged in an outer cardboard box with the date stamp, stickers, and seals on it, and any real vendor will ship them that way.
> 
> And that's a good lead-in to telling folks how to know if the vendor site they stumbled across is selling fakes. Packaging matters, and counterfeiters are notorious for getting it wrong. Another tip-off is items that have long-since been discontinued. The first thing I look for are Partagas Coronas. Seems nearly every fake vendor lists them as though they're still in current production even though they were discontinued in 2006. Not that I was going to buy anything from some random site anyway, but I do kinda' enjoy shaking my head and laughing at how transparent they are letting you know their cigars are all fakes!


I love the cellophane seal the box is in.
Maybe these sellers of fakes should have a.
Cello on promotion. :vs_laugh:


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Rondo said:


> A first for me.


You know you do this long enough and you get to literally see it all! :vs_cool:


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## poppajon75 (Apr 10, 2016)

curmudgeonista said:


> Yep, date code would be under the flap of the outer sleeve containing all five tins. Same goes for cardboard packs. One catch, though. HUHC's weren't launched until 2011, and the 5x5 tins didn't come out until 2012.
> 
> Another example of unusual date placement is with Vegueros tins of 16. The date stamp is on the bottom of the bundle inside the tin. This also applies to JLP's and Quinteros that come as a bundle inside a chipboard box.


I need to go back to find the correspondence from the tins. I was under the impression they were from '08. I may have mistakenly thought so. Come to think of it...... I know exactly where I got that number....
Thank you for the education on the production timeline on the HUHC. I was unaware of the initial release timeline. Always something new to learn.


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## s1n3 n0m1n3 (Jun 20, 2019)

Well, to close out this thread....they are going back. Kinda sucks. I had a friend who lived in Switzerland since ‘98 and he just moved back to the U.S. in August....just in time for me to run short on my HdM’s. I spent a month doing my due diligence and this was my result. FML....lol.

Thanks to everyone that responded. Definitely a case of “I know better”, but a little smack upside the head from the community always helps.

I guess it’s back to the drawing board on this one.


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

Just back from Mexico. For grins and giggles I stopped by a cigar shop just to have look.
They had boxes that everything lined up....looked good, smelled good, everything about the boxes lined up..........
except....there were no box codes or dates. I left my phone in the truck :frown2:and didn't want to go back out and come back in to snap pics. Thought I would travel by the shop again before I left but never did.
Going back next year......I'll try to remember my phone:wink2:


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Perfecto Dave said:


> Just back from Mexico. For grins and giggles I stopped by a cigar shop just to have look.
> They had boxes that everything lined up....looked good, smelled good, everything about the boxes lined up..........
> except....there were no box codes or dates. I left my phone in the truck :frown2:and didn't want to go back out and come back in to snap pics. Thought I would travel by the shop again before I left but never did.
> Going back next year......I'll try to remember my phone:wink2:


Last time i was in T.J walking down revolution ave.
There were rows of the Cohiba's in the glass top box.
I guess they finally decided to smarten up :vs_laugh:


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## norc47 (Apr 20, 2019)

It is amazing the lengths people will go to to counterfeit these things. After reading this thread I'll probably never buy a single CC again outside an LCDH. Full boxes only from everyone else.


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> Last time i was in T.J walking down revolution ave.
> There were rows of the Cohiba's in the glass top box.
> I guess they finally decided to smarten up :vs_laugh:


Oh Yea...the glass tops are still all over at the border towns. I was about an hour deep across the border on the sea of cortez at Puerto Penasco. :wink2:


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## Olecharlie (Oct 28, 2017)

This is why I only have two sources and they have all been dated.


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